Google & Facebook fed ad dollars to child porn discovery apps
Google & Facebook fed ad dollars to
child porn discovery apps
Google has
scrambled to remove third-party apps that led users to child porn sharing
groups on WhatsApp in the wake of TechCrunch’s
report about the problem last week. We contacted Google with
the name of one of these apps and evidence that it and others offered links to
WhatsApp groups for sharing child exploitation imagery. Following publication
of our article, Google removed from the Google Play store that app and at least
five like it. Several of these apps had more than 100,000 downloads, and
they’re still functional on devices that already downloaded them.
WhatsApp failed to adequately police its
platform, confirming to TechCrunch that it’s only moderated by its own 300
employees and not Facebook’s 20,000 dedicated security
and moderation staffers. It’s clear that scalable and efficient artificial
intelligence systems are not up to the task of protecting the 1.5 billion-user
WhatsApp community, and companies like Facebook must invest more in unscalable
human investigators.
But now, new research provided exclusively
to TechCrunch by anti-harassment algorithm startup AntiToxin shows that these removed apps that
hosted links to child porn sharing rings on WhatsApp were supported with ads
run by Google and Facebook’s ad networks. AntiToxin found six of these apps ran
Google AdMob, one ran Google Firebase, two ran Facebook Audience Network and
one ran StartApp. These ad networks earned a cut of brands’ marketing spend while
allowing the apps to monetize and sustain their operations by hosting ads for
Amazon, Microsoft, Motorola, Sprint, Sprite, Western Union, Dyson, DJI, Gett,
Yandex Music, Q Link Wireless, Tik Tok and more.
The situation reveals that tech giants
aren’t just failing to spot offensive content in their own apps, but also in
third-party apps that host their ads and that earn them money. While these apps
like “Group
Links For Whats” by Lisa Studio let
people discover benign links to WhatsApp groups for sharing legal content and
discussing topics like business or sports, TechCrunch found they also hosted
links with titles such as “child
porn only no adv” and “child porn xvideos” that led to WhatsApp groups
with names like “Children” or “videos cp” — a known abbreviation for “child
pornography.”
In a video provided by AntiToxin seen below, the app “Group
Links For Whats by Lisa Studio” that ran Google AdMob is shown displaying an
interstitial ad for Q Link Wireless before providing WhatsApp group search
results for “child.” A group described as “Child nude FBI POLICE” is surfaced,
and when the invite link is clicked, it opens within WhatsApp to a group used
for sharing child exploitation imagery. (No illegal imagery is shown in this
video or article. TechCrunch has omitted the end of the video that showed a URL
for an illegal group and the phone numbers of its members.)
Another
video shows the app “Group Link For whatsapp by Video Status Zone” that ran
Google AdMob and Facebook Audience
Network displaying a link to a WhatsApp group described as “only cp video.”
When tapped, the app first surfaces an interstitial ad for Amazon Photos before
revealing a button for opening the group within WhatsApp. These videos show how
alarmingly easy it was for people to find illegal content sharing groups on
WhatsApp, even without WhatsApp’s help.
Zero
tolerance doesn’t mean zero illegal content
In response, a
Google spokesperson tells me that these group discovery apps violated its
content policies and it’s continuing to look for more like them to ban. When
they’re identified and removed from Google Play, it also suspends their access
to its ad networks. However, it refused to disclose how much money these apps
earned and whether it would refund the advertisers. The company provided this
statement:
Google
has a zero tolerance approach to child sexual abuse material and we’ve invested
in technology, teams and partnerships with groups like the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, to tackle this issue for more than two decades.
If we identify an app promoting this kind of material that our systems haven’t
already blocked, we report it to the relevant authorities and remove it from
our platform. These policies apply to apps listed in the Play store as well as
apps that use Google’s advertising services.
|
App
|
Developer
|
Ad Network
|
Estimated
Installs
|
Last Day Ranked
|
|
Jack Rehan
|
Google AdMob
|
200,000
|
12/18/2018
|
|
|
NirmalaAppzTech
|
Google AdMob
|
127,000
|
12/18/2018
|
|
|
Villainsbrain
|
Google Firebase
|
126,000
|
12/18/2018
|
|
|
Bit-Build
|
Google AdMob, Facebook Audience Network
|
86,000
|
12/18/2018
|
|
|
Lisa Studio
|
Google AdMob
|
54,000
|
12/19/2018
|
|
|
Natalie Pack
|
Google AdMob
|
3,000
|
12/20/2018
|
|
|
Video Status Zone
|
Google AdMob, Facebook Audience Network
|
97,000
|
11/13/2018
|
|
|
Developers.pk
|
StartAppSDK
|
29,000
|
12/5/2018
|
Facebook, meanwhile, blamed Google Play,
saying the apps’ eligibility for its Facebook Audience Network ads was tied to
their availability on Google Play and that the apps were removed from FAN when
booted from the Android app store. The company was more forthcoming, telling
TechCrunch it will refund advertisers whose promotions appeared on these
abhorrent apps. It’s also pulling Audience Network from all apps that let users
discover WhatsApp Groups.
A Facebook spokesperson tells TechCrunch
that “Audience Network monetization eligibility is closely
tied to app store (in this case Google) review. We removed [Public
Group for WhatsApp by Bit-Build] when Google did – it is not
currently monetizing on Audience Network. Our policies are on our website and out of
abundance of caution we’re ensuring Audience Network does not support any group
invite link apps. This app earned very little revenue (less than $500), which
we are refunding to all impacted advertisers.” WhatsApp has already banned all the
illegal groups TechCrunch reported on last week.
Facebook also provided this statement
about WhatsApp’s stance on illegal imagery sharing groups and third-party apps
for finding them:
WhatsApp
does not provide a search function for people or groups – nor does WhatsApp
encourage publication of invite links to private groups. WhatsApp regularly
engages with Google and Apple to enforce their terms of service on apps that
attempt to encourage abuse on WhatsApp. Following the reports earlier this
week, WhatsApp asked Google to remove all known group link sharing apps. When
apps are removed from Google Play store, they are also removed from Audience
Network.
Israeli NGOs Netivei Reshet and
Screen Savers worked with AntiToxin to provide a
report published by TechCrunch about the wide extent of
child exploitation imagery they found on WhatsApp. Facebook and WhatsApp are
still waiting on the groups to work with Israeli police to provide their full
research so WhatsApp can delete illegal groups they discovered and terminate
user accounts that joined them.
AntiToxin develops technologies for
protecting online network harassment, bullying, shaming, predatory behavior and
sexually explicit activity. It was co-founded by Zohar Levkovitz, who sold Amobee to SingTel for $400 million, and Ron Porat, who was
the CEO of ad-blocker Shine. [Disclosure: The company also employs Roi Carthy,
who contributed to TechCrunch from 2007 to 2012.] “Online toxicity is at
unprecedented levels, at unprecedented scale, with unprecedented risks for
children, which is why completely new thinking has to be applied to technology
solutions that help parents keep their children safe,” Levkovitz tells me.
The company is pushing Apple to remove WhatsApp from the App Store until the
problems are fixed, citing how Apple temporarily suspended Tumblr due to child
pornography.
Ad networks must be monitored
Encryption has proven an impediment to
WhatsApp preventing the spread of child exploitation imagery. WhatsApp can’t
see what is shared inside of group chats. Instead, it has to rely on the few
pieces of public and unencrypted data, such as group names and profile photos
plus their members’ profile photos, looking for suspicious names or illegal
images. The company matches those images to a PhotoDNA database of known child
exploitation photos to administer bans, and has human moderators investigate if
seemingly illegal images aren’t already on file. It then reports its findings
to law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children. Strong encryption is important for protecting privacy and
political dissent, but also thwarts some detection of illegal content and
thereby necessitates more manual moderation.
With just 300 total employees and only a
subset working on security or content moderation, WhatsApp seems understaffed
to manage such a large user base. It’s tried to depend on AI to safeguard its
community. However, that technology can’t yet perform the nuanced
investigations necessary to combat exploitation. WhatsApp runs
semi-independently of Facebook, but could hire more moderators to investigate
group discovery apps that lead to child pornography if Facebook allocated more
resources to its acquisition.WhatsApp group discovery apps featured
Adult sections that contained links to child exploitation imagery groups. Google
and Facebook, with their vast headcounts and profit margins, are neglecting to
properly police who hosts their ad networks. The companies have sought to earn
extra revenue by powering ads on other apps, yet failed to assume the necessary
responsibility to ensure those apps aren’t facilitating crimes. Stricter
examinations of in-app content should be administered before an app is accepted
to app stores or ad networks, and periodically once they’re running. And when automated
systems can’t be deployed, as can be the case with policing third-party apps,
human staffers should be assigned despite the cost.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that
social networks and ad networks that profit off other people’s content can’t be
low-maintenance cash cows. Companies should invest ample money and labor into
safeguarding any property they run or monetize, even if it makes the
opportunities less lucrative. The strip-mining of the internet without regard
for consequences must end.
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